Meira Gebel/Business Insider
The author, Meira Gebel, and her husband chose to have a courthouse wedding rather than a traditional ceremony for multiple reasons.
- Earlier this year, my husband and I opted to have a courthouse wedding rather than a large, traditional wedding ceremony.
- In addition to my husband and I wanting to save money, we found skipping a traditional wedding was a better fit for several other reasons.
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There are plenty of reasons why a couple might want to skip an elaborate marriage ceremony and have a simple wedding at the local courthouse.
Cost is an obvious reason - in the United States, the average wedding will set a couple back $38,700. Or maybe you aren't the most traditional couple and don't want a religious ceremony. Plus, the stress of planning the perfect ceremony can give anyone a migraine.
For me, it was a combination of all of those things.
When my husband Julian proposed to me on our living room couch after a rather heated conversation, I thought he was kidding. We've done that bit before. It wasn't until the next day when he called me at work that I knew he was serious. The conversation went a little like this:
"How's March 27?" he asked.
"For what?" I said.
"To get married, I have the courthouse on the other line."
"Oh! OK, sure, sounds good."
"Morning or afternoon?"
"Afternoon, definitely."
And so it was. Three weeks later, we got married in a Salt Lake City courthouse on March 27 at 3:30 p.m.
One could argue a transaction like this is incredibly unromantic, but I would hit back with this: Generally, grand gestures make me gag. The idea that my husband would get down on one knee and recite a pre-rehearsed speech is something I could never picture. Bridesmaids? A white dress? A year's worth of planning? Guests gawking as my father gives me away? Count me out.
This is why a courthouse wedding made sense to my husband and me - we were able to craft the marriage experience how we wanted, without the extra dollars, late-night stress, and cringey, courtesy invites that come with a more traditional ceremony. And I'm sure if you were there when our seven-minute ceremony took place, you'd say it was anything but unromantic.
With that in mind, here are the five reasons I skipped the ceremony and had a courthouse wedding.